The very recent phenomenon that is “podcasting” offers news listeners a new
and simple way to obtain audio information (via RSS feeds), and the
“portableness” of podcasts allows to you play news stories, music shows,
comedy, sports and more from almost any mobile device. Mark Glaser of the
Online Journalism Review calls podcasts “the TiVo of radio” because
subscribers can, essentially, access the podcast whenever they want and
wherever they are.

The person who podcasts (the “podcaster), is essentially, a journalist; he
or she must conduct interviews, speak with experts, and gather other forms
of primary and secondary information. Like the journalist, the podcaster
must also attribute the information she presents in her podcast.

Podcasting is relatively new. It has taken on the name “online journalism”
by professionals, and because of this, these professionals hold podcasts to
the same ethical standards as journalistic writing. Most of the ethics of
podcasts has to do with copyright—legal implications can occur when
podcasts contain copyrighted video clips that are not properly cited.

Since podcasts are relatively new, many people who create podcasts or even
“vlogs” (basically a video diary log) are not properly trained to deal with
the ethics of radio/online journalism, which is essentially what podcasts
are.

“Ethics implies freedom to choose,” says Richard Keeble, Professor of
Journalism at University of Lincoln, in his book Ethics for Journalists.
“But journalists are constrained by so many factors—proprietors, fear, the
law, time and space to name a few.” (Keeble, 3) When podcasting,
journalists must be sure to properly cite material, and name sources.

We discussed this a bit in the WRIT1004 “Research for Professional
Writers’” course, but we were mainly concerned with copyrights surrounding
the use of images. We discussed “Creative Commons” images—images that are
available to the public, and can be freely used and shared. But, creating
podcasts for a living (whether on a show/series or for a radio station)
requires podcasters to be even more aware of the information they are
using. Any quote, source, and fact has to be accounted for. Journalism
ethics go beyond writing, but are still necessary for the ethical
broadcasting of information and opinions.